Big Time Make Up
by CarganForever
Summary: Logan successfully gets rid of Carlos's helmet in "Big Time Breakup," but Carlos reveals the reason he cherished it in the first place. Cargan fanfic.


**Big Time Make Up**

Summary: Logan successfully gets rid of Carlos's helmet in "Big Time Breakup," but Carlos reveals the reason he cherished it in the first place. Cargan fanfic.

Author's Note: I've been feeling nostalgic recently and remembered Big Time Rush. So I've been rewatching the series and reading as many Cargan fanfics as I could find. A Wiki article on the Cargan ship said that in "Big Time Breakup," Logan seemed _jealous_ of Carlos's helmet. Thus, this story was born – an alternate way that the helmet issue was resolved. Blame the Wiki for this creation lol.

* * *

Kelly walked into apartment 2J looking for Carlos, annoyed that he refused to give up his helmet. After dodging a bowling ball, she questioned Logan about Carlos and his helmet.

"I have two theories. One, he projected his love of hockey into his helmet and then fell in love with his helmet, and two, he's an idiot!"

Carlos internally sighed at Logan's words. He was _almost_ right – it wasn't a love of hockey that he projected into the helmet. It was a crush on a certain genius in the band that he projected into that helmet… Carlos would never admit this out loud though. For as reckless as he was, Carlos couldn't risk trying to rush into things and end up ruining his friendship with Logan. The thought of Logan rejecting him made him sick to his stomach. He repressed these feelings as he sent another bowling ball down the swirly slide. Because if he couldn't have Logan, then he could at least fight for his helmet.

"The bowling ball's a result of _me_ trying to get rid of the helmet," Logan admitted. Carlos felt his heart fall again, recalling all the other times Logan had tried to take the helmet away. 'Logan, how can you be so cruel,' Carlos thought. 'You were the one who gave me this helmet in the first place…'

Kelly seemed surprised too. "Wait, you don't like the helmet? Why?"

"I have my reasons," Logan replied mysteriously after a brief pause.

"This is great, we'll team up, overpower him, and get rid of the helmet together!"

"Nooo, I'm done battling that helmet," Logan said a little too exaggeratedly.

Carlos knew Logan too well though. "I know you nodded yes!" He smiled, imagining Logan's grimace. 'Why do you have to be so cute, even just in my head…'

A knock at the door broke Carlos out of his thoughts, and the voice that followed completely soured his mood. "Logan! Wanna grab a smoothie and rehearse some lines with me?" he heard Camille say.

"Sure! Kelly, we'll pick this up later," Logan said.

Carlos felt a pang of jealousy as the other three exited the apartment. 'It's like he has no idea that I'm even here…'

And seconds after the door closed, despite the other boy trying to take away his most prized possession, Carlos could feel his heart screaming, 'Logan… Come back!'

Sitting down at the top of the balcony, Carlos took off his helmet, placed it on his lap, wrapped his arms around his knees, and laid his head on the hard plastic as tears streamed down his face.

* * *

Logan had zoned out while hanging out with Camille. As much as he liked the girl – she was quirky but also sweet – his heart wasn't totally in it. He was mostly just trying to distract himself from the feelings he had developed for a certain helmeted boy in the band. In a few short months from when Gustavo had moved them to LA, Carlos's singing had improved drastically.

Logan thought back to when Jo had first moved to the Palmwoods, and they were all fighting for her attention. He had been singing "Any Kind of Guy" to her from the pool, but then Carlos had come out of nowhere and tackled him. He was pissed off that Carlos had ruined his moment, but the anger turned to shock as he heard Carlos sing the next few lines.

'Wow… he's really good,' Logan had thought to himself as he swooned a little. 'When did he get so good?' Kendall tackling Carlos broke Logan out of his trance though, and he remembered the objective was to win Jo over. His crush on her may have died when he heard Carlos's voice, but out of pride, he continued to fight the other boys and sing to her until she told them that she had a boyfriend.

Logan wasn't that disappointed at the news. But ever since that day, Logan had paid more attention to everything Carlos did. The way he sang and danced, how he got excited over little things and lit up the room… Logan looked forward to Carlos's solo parts in the band's songs, just to hear him sing.

If he was honest with himself, Logan had found Carlos cute before they had moved to LA. But something about hearing him sing made Logan start liking Carlos as more than just a friend. So it hurt him whenever Carlos seemed to like his helmet more than him. He couldn't even sit next to his friend to have lunch because "Helmet's sitting there." That damn helmet always seemed to get in the way of really having some quality time with Carlos. 'I can't believe I'm jealous of a helmet…' Logan took an angry sip of his smoothie while he tried to focus his attention back on Camille. But it was futile – Logan could only focus on how to get rid of Carlos's helmet, yearning for the day when Carlos would actually pay attention to him instead.

* * *

After two failed attempts to take the helmet away, Logan and Kelly had succeeded in snatching the helmet with the help of a fishing rod and Plungy. Carlos had been distracted by the snow cones that Katie was selling at the pool, so he hadn't noticed Logan and Kelly scheming from the balcony outside 2J until he heard his helmet's alarm go off. Before he could grab his helmet back, Kelly and Logan had reeled the plastic object out of his reach.

"May I do the honors?" Logan said as he pulled out a blowtorch and a metal trash can from behind him?

"Be my guest," Kelly said, removing the helmet from the plunger and handing it to Logan. With a devilish smile on his face, Logan dropped the helmet into the trash can full of anything that could catch fire, put on some safety equipment, and started the blowtorch, making sure to focus the flame on the helmet to make sure it broke and melted. He relished in his victory, feeling freed from that stupid helmet and the way it always seemed to take Carlos away from him. The alarm started to slow and distort as the plastic warped with the flames.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Carlos screamed as the shock of his helmet being snatched away from him faded into realization. He ran into the Palmwoods and up to 2J, only to find the apartment door locked. He pounded on the door, demanding that Kelly and Logan let him in. He then tried tackling the door open, but it wouldn't budge, no matter how many times he tried. He slumped down the door frame, more tears falling down his face, hoping that it was all just a bad dream.

* * *

"Was the blowtorch really necessary?" Kelly asked Logan after the fire had been going strong for half an hour.

"… probably not. But it's oh so satisfying!" Logan was still reveling in the victory. He and Kelly peered into the trash can, and saw nothing but melted plastic and ash in the flames.

"Well, our work here is done! I will see you at Roque Records tomorrow," Kelly said with a smile on her face. She then got up and opened the door to 2J to find Carlos crying against the doorframe. She felt a pang of guilt and put a hand on Carlos's shoulder. He jerked his head up startled, and looked at Kelly, who gave him a sympathetic smile. "This was for your own good, Carlos…"

As she walked away, Carlos jumped up and ran into the apartment, hoping he could still save his helmet. He grabbed the fire extinguisher under the kitchen sink and ran to the balcony, pushing Logan out of the way as he walked in. After putting out the fire and fanning out the smoke, he peered into the trash can only to find that his helmet had been completely destroyed. Fresh tears began welling up in his eyes as he turned around to face Logan.

"Why… H-how could you _do_ this?" he asked, voice cracking. And with that, the guilt hit Logan like a freight train, the heartbreak visible on Carlos's face. Between the guilt and the jealousy, Logan struggled to find the words to explain himself.

With nothing but unintelligible sounds coming from Logan's mouth, Carlos got mad for what could only be the second time in his entire life. His frustration bubbled over and Carlos knew that that meant he would soon be unable to stop himself from what he was about to say. "Logan, how could you be so mean?! You got me this helmet for my 12th birthday, why would you destroy it now?!"

Logan's jaw dropped. He barely remembered getting Carlos a helmet in the 7th grade, to keep him from hurting himself, since he had a tendency to fall and/or run into things headfirst. He hadn't even expected that Carlos would have kept that same helmet all these years – wasn't he always losing it and looking at new helmets in his helmet magazine?

Logan was absolutely dumbfounded. He struggled to put his thoughts in order – explain why he did what he did, ask why Carlos had kept that helmet all these years. But no words came out of his mouth – just small sounds that were otherwise caught in his throat. The seconds felt like hours. Logan's silence angered Carlos more, forcing more tears and confessions out – he needed Logan to feel guilty over all of this. "That helmet was _special_ to me, because it came from _you_… so why?! Why, why, why?!" And with every accusation, Carlos threw a pillow from the orange couch at Logan. But Logan still couldn't speak.

Infuriated, Carlos screamed at the other boy, accentuating every word. "Logan, you are the worst! I hate you!" He threw one last pillow at Logan before running up the swirly slide and locking himself in his room, finally allowing the sobs to wrack his body as he buried his face in his pillow.

* * *

Logan silently picked up all the pillows Carlos had thrown at him. He was still in a daze, thinking about everything Carlos had said. He flashed back to getting Carlos that helmet.

_It was Carlos's 12__th__ birthday party. All the guests except Logan, Kendall, and James had left. Carlos begged his mom to let him open his presents now, since it was just him and his closest friends for his birthday sleepover. His mom took a napkin and wiped off the cake crumbs and chocolate frosting from Carlos's face before allowing him to dive into the pile of presents in front of him. He picked up a present covered with purple and white stripes and tied together with a white ribbon. Carlos tore through the wrapping and ripped open the box. Inside was sleek, black helmet. Carlos squealed and put it on. It was just slightly too big, but he was still ecstatic anyways._

_"This is the coolest thing ever!"_

_Logan smiled, glad that Carlos liked his present. "Now you don't need to worry about getting hurt. I know it's a little big, but I figured you'll grow into it anyways!" Logan said, and Carlos beamed in agreement._

_"So I'll be able to keep it forever! ThankyouthankyouthankyouLogie!" Carlos exclaimed, tackling the other boy in one of his famous hugs._

It never occurred to Logan that the helmet was still that special to Carlos, or that he actually intended to keep it forever. So he felt even guiltier about what he did. But then he thought back to Gustavo saying that Carlos needed to stop wearing that helmet everywhere, so he tried to justify to himself that he did what was necessary. 'Carlos will get over it soon… it's Carlos we're talking about! He has the attention span of a walnut, he'll forget about this by tomorrow,' Logan hoped.

But tomorrow came and went. Carlos apparently hadn't forgotten, as he made it a point to not even look at Logan, much less talk to him. For as much as Carlos was still in love with Logan, he was also still very angry and equally hurt at what Logan had done.

Kelly picked up the boys from the Palmwoods for another day at Roque Records. She noticed that Carlos was silent and pouting, and Logan was staring sadly at Carlos the whole ride. Kendall was staring out the window forlornly, thinking about Jo. James was the only one acting normally, combing his hair in the reflection of his mirror.

Once they got to the studio, Kelly pulled Logan aside and asked what was up. "Kendall is hung up on Jo leaving, and Carlos still hasn't said a word to me or even looked in my direction since yesterday."

"Because of the helmet thing?" Kelly replied.

"Yeah… I found out yesterday that he thought of it as special because _I_ gave it to him years ago… I didn't think he even remembered that, or that he had never replaced it."

"Aww… that's so sweet," Kelly said, then her face fell, also feeling the guilt of what they had done. "… What are we going to do now?"

Logan shook his head, "I don't know… I just hope he'll be back to his old self in no time… We just gotta wait it out." The silent treatment made Logan uneasy, but he decided Carlos just needed more time and space to grieve the loss of his helmet.

* * *

Weeks started to pass, and Carlos still hadn't spoken to Logan. The band's genius had tried everything to make Carlos talk to him again: set up a video game tournament, built a cheese-making laser, and even tempted him with a corn dog eating contest. Nothing worked. Carlos had turned the other way and pretended that Logan wasn't even there. It's not that Carlos didn't want to talk to Logan – he just still wasn't sure if he could handle facing the other boy. And if Logan had caught his eyes or entranced him with his smile, Carlos wasn't sure if the anger and pain would flare up again. He hated feeling that way.

"Carlos, please talk to me…" Logan said, knocking on the smaller boy's door. He missed having his best friend around. Missed his voice, the way he could energize a room, all his silly antics…

Logan tried the knob, but it was locked. Carlos wasn't coming out anytime soon – his emotions were all over the place. He didn't know he could feel both happy and sad to see or hear someone. Someone who seemed to care for him, but not in the way he really wanted. Someone who had hurt him by destroying something so precious to him. Someone who had gifted him that something precious in the first place. Someone who was a great friend… well, minus the helmet incident.

Carlos decided he had to get out. He couldn't be anywhere near the Palmwoods right now, not with Logan around. So he strung a bunch of bedsheets together, tied one end to his bedframe, and rappelled out his window.

He decided to take a walk through the cool dusk air and go to Roque Records to work on a song. The studio was open to them whenever during the week; ever since they had written "Oh Yeah" for Gustavo, the producer had decided that the dogs could work on new songs whenever they felt like it. 'Maybe writing how I feel about Logan will help clear my head.' And knowing it was their free day, Carlos figured the other guys wouldn't be there.

Before he knew it, Carlos was at the studio. He sat down at the piano and started to work on something. The lyrics and melody flowed slowly but naturally from all the emotions Carlos had been holding in. He looked at the lyrics he wrote and sung it out loud.

_Every time you come around  
You put a lightning bolt on my face  
Baby, every time you come around  
Boy, you take my breath away_

_And I just wanna breathe until I take you in  
Cuz I want you to breathe until you take me in  
But the truth is_

_He has no idea, no idea  
That I'm even here  
I'm even here  
He has no idea, no idea  
I'm standing here  
I'm standing here_

"Wow, that was beautiful, Carlos," a familiar voice chimed in from behind him. Carlos jumped and turned around.

"Kelly! I thought you and Gustavo were gone for the day… Were you there the whole time?"

The assistant nodded. "I forgot to grab some paperwork. Was just stopping by real quick when I heard you singing. Are you writing a new song?"

Carlos nodded and looked down at the bench he was sitting on. Kelly smiled, complimenting Carlos again before shifting around nervously. "Listen…" she continued, taking a seat next to Carlos on the bench. "I'm sorry about the helmet incident… Logan told me how special it was to you. I wouldn't have tried to take it away if I had known."

Carlos put on a small smile. "No worries, Kelly. You didn't know the background behind it… I don't blame you for anything. Logan, on the other hand…" Carlos felt tears starting to run down his face. "He should have known… he got me that helmet in the first place…"

Kelly looked at the boy understandingly. "So what about _him_ getting it for you makes it special?" It was more of a rhetorical question – Kelly thought she might already know the answer, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Carlos considered the question for a bit. 'Should I just tell her? She already heard the song…' He sighed, deciding that the lyrics were already enough material evidence for his feelings. "Because… I think I might like him… as more than a friend… But I don't think he would ever feel the same way for me."

Kelly gave him a knowing look. "And that's who your song is about… Why don't you just tell him? Better to know than to stay in the dark, right?"

"I couldn't risk our friendship that way. If I told him and he didn't want to be anywhere near me after…" Carlos trailed off, not wanting to even give that idea a second thought. He could already feel his heart about to break again.

Kelly squeezed his shoulder compassionately. "Logan wouldn't do that. He cares too much about you. I think you should just tell him. Or maybe… sing it to him." She gestured toward the piano, referring to the song Carlos was working on.

Carlos finally looked up at Kelly and gave her another small smile. "I'll think about it."

"Alright, I'll leave you to finish your song." Kelly gave him a big hug and then left the studio.

With the silence that then enveloped the studio, Carlos thought more about how Logan made him feel before the helmet incident and got back to work.

_I'll kiss you, whenever you want to be kissed  
How I miss you two seconds after you leave screaming "Come back to me, come back to me"  
Let me please you, let me see you, let me take that heart of yours  
And I'll be whatever you need me to be, the good guy, bad guy, just tell me baby_

* * *

Carlos started walking back to the Palmwoods, having gotten writer's block after a few hours, and obsessively read over the lyrics he had written, until he reached his makeshift rope. Hastily stuffing the lyrics into his back pocket, he climbed back up through his window into his room. He looked at his alarm clock and saw that it was getting late. 11:23 flashed at him in bright red. Feeling exhausted, he crawled into bed and reflected on the past few weeks.

He still wasn't sure if he would talk to Logan again, or even _how_ to start talking to him again. But he knew he missed having his best friend around. He may not understand any of the scientific things Logan ever talks about, but he made Carlos feel like someone was actually interested in what he had to say. He missed the playful side Logan only ever showed to those he trusted, and the way he gave a crooked, dimpled smile when he was trying to reassure someone. So for his own sanity, he knew he needed to find a way to forgive Logan for the helmet incident. Besides, he could always replace a helmet, but he couldn't replace his best friend. But how would he get over feeling so betrayed by the one person he trusted most in the world? And with that, Carlos drifted off to sleep, still unsure how he could play things out.

* * *

While Carlos was making a silent escape from his room, Logan paced in front of the door. There hadn't been a peep from Carlos's room in a while, and it was making Logan anxious.

"Boys! Dinner's ready!" he heard Mama Knight call from downstairs.

Logan looked at Carlos's door expectantly, hoping the call to food would draw Carlos out of his room. But it was still quiet; there were still no signs Carlos would be walking through that door soon.

Dejectedly, Logan went downstairs to eat dinner with the rest of the family. Everyone could feel his sadness as he sat down at the dinner table.

"Where's Carlos?" Mama Knight asked as she placed the roast chicken on the dinner table.

"I saw him rappelling down from his room," Katie replied. "Don't think he'll be joining us tonight."

Logan groaned and put his head in his hands. "Honey," Mama Knight began, rubbing Logan's shoulder. "You've tried your best, but you just gotta let him come to you."

"At this rate, I don't think that's gonna happen…"

"You could always trap him! You'll need 50 pounds of popsicle sticks, a handful of marbles, a 30-foot rope, 436 square feet of paper, a donkey, and about 17 gallons of glue." The look on Katie's face told everyone she had something planned already.

"What, no decoy helmet to act as bait?" James retorted.

"NO TRAPS!" Mama Knight raised her voice, already apprehensive about what kind of plan would require all these things.

"But… James might be on to something," Kendall cut in. "A new helmet might just lift Carlos's spirits… Besides, the Best Friend Code states that if you wrong a friend, you have to make it right."

"Ok… but how am I even going to get Carlos to take it when he won't even look at me?"

"I'm telling you, a trap will – "

"NO TRAPS!" Mama Knight repeated. Katie crossed her arms and pouted.

"_But_ you _will_ need to draw him out," James replied.

"And _I_ have the perfect plan so you can get your man back." Kendall beamed as incredulity covered Logan's face.

"What? Carlos isn't – I don't – "

"Oh please, Logan. We can all tell you like Carlos," Kendall said, rolling his eyes.

Logan looked to the rest of the family to see them nodding, then groaned again. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Only if you're paying attention," Katie smirked.

"We see how you look his way whenever he's singing," James said.

"Or when he's doing something silly," Mama Knight continued.

"Or when he's walking around shirtless," Kendall laughed.

"OK enough!" Logan replied. "I get it. Kendall, just tell me what your plan is so I can put things back to the way they were…"

"Then listen closely, my good friend, for you shall execute the Operation Draw-Carlos-Out tomorrow morning!"

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the window, causing Carlos to stir and wake up. Something told him that today would be a good day. 'Maybe it's just cuz I dreamed that Logan and I kissed…'

Carlos sat up in bed and stretched loudly. Grabbing his toothbrush, he groggily made his way to the bathroom. The smell of breakfast cooking was enough to make Carlos's mouth water. He quickly ran into the bathroom to take care of business, then slid down the swirly slide to enjoy some food.

Looking at the table, Carlos's jaw dropped and an excited gasp escaped from his lips as he examined all his favorite breakfast foods, right in front of him. Cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage patties, blueberry muffins, and breakfast corn dogs filled the table.

"Carlos!" The boy looked up from where he was standing to see Logan holding a tray of pancakes, waffles, and bottles of whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and maple syrup. He gave the shorter boy a bittersweet smile as he let out a breath.

As much as Carlos loved food, he still didn't think he was really ready to face Logan just yet. He looked back at the table and took a step back, debating whether or not to run up the swirly slide and back into his room.

"Nonowaitnostopplease." Logan hurriedly put down the tray on the table before running around and blocking the bottom of the swirly slide, grabbing Carlos by the shoulders before he could get away. "Please, just… hear me out." Carlos bit his lower lip and looked down, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He hadn't been this close to Logan in a while. He missed it, and had to fight the urge to lean in to the touch.

Logan took Carlos's silence as a chance to continue. "I'm sorry about your helmet, okay? I shouldn't have destroyed it. I shouldn't have even taken it from you in the first place. It was wrong, and I'm sorry." Logan waited for a response from Carlos, but the other boy was still looking down. "Carlos… please… I miss talking to you. You're my best friend and I just want us to move on from this. I really regret everything I did – "

"So why did you?" Carlos cut him off, surprising both Logan and himself. Carlos finally looked up at Logan, the hurt apparent in his eyes, and Logan looked back at him sadly. 'Well… guess it's time for the truth,' Logan thought to himself.

"I… Honestly… I was… jealous," Logan began, struggling to find the right words. "Whenever we were hanging out together… it always seemed like your helmet came between us... I couldn't even sit next to you at lunch cuz of that thing. I felt… second place to a piece of plastic." Logan started to break down here, recalling the pain and jealousy he felt over Carlos always choosing his helmet over him. He took a breath, then continued. "So I let my emotions get the better of me and justified them when Gustavo said we had to get rid of the helmet. But if I had known I would lose my best friend over it…" At a loss for words, Logan could only open and close his mouth as the tears finally broke through.

Now Carlos was dumbfounded. 'Logan felt… jealous? … Did I really push him away that much?'

"Carlos… please?" Logan begged as the other boy looked down again in uncharacteristic contemplation. "Oh…" he said sniffling, "… wait," then turned around and grabbed something from behind the swirly slide. He gave Carlos a box, covered in the same wrapping paper as the present he gave Carlos on his 12th birthday. "I'm hoping all this," he said, gesturing to the present and the food, "can make up for what I did."

Carlos was still processing everything Logan had said. His body went on autopilot, slowly removing the wrapping and opening the box before he even realized what he was doing. Inside, he made out something… shiny and black.

As Carlos removed the object from the box, Logan continued, "I did some calculations and made some deductions… I'm hoping it's a perfect fit this time. And it's made of carbon fiber, so it should be nearly indestructible."

"Logie…" Carlos said, a smile slowly taking over his face, looking at the new helmet he held in his hands. Logan smiled, hope rising as he heard Carlos say his nickname. "I don't know what to say…"

"Say you'll forgive me and start talking to me again?"

With that, Carlos put on the helmet, tapped it twice, nodded, then tackled Logan like all those years ago when he got the first helmet from him. They fell onto the beanbag behind them as Carlos squeezed Logan tight.

Laying on the beanbag, Carlos nuzzled into the other boy's chest, feeling happier than he had ever been in a while. He had a new helmet and his best friend back, so he couldn't control himself when he found his head on Logan's chest. Logan wrapped his arms around Carlos, basking in the contact he felt so deprived of for weeks. He laughed and started drawing lazy circles on Carlos's shoulder, not wanting the other boy to get up.

Logan looked down and spotted a piece of paper about to fall out of Carlos's back pocket. Curiosity got the better of him, so he tried his best to remove and unfold the paper inconspicuously. Quickly looking over it, he saw the words "He has no idea, no idea / That I'm even here" written in Carlos's handwriting before the other boy snatched the piece of paper away and shoved it deep back into his pocket.

"Were those lyrics to a song?" Logan asked, tempted to reach into Carlos's pocket again, admittedly for multiple reasons. 'Was he writing about a guy?' Logan thought, a mixture of hope and jealousy bubbled within him. How he wished that Carlos would write songs about him…

Carlos remained still for a few seconds before nodding, face still smushed on Logan's chest.

"… will you sing it for me?" Logan asked.

Carlos's eyes went wide with fear – sure, he had made up with Logan, but he couldn't sing this song to his best friend _now_… could he?

A loud rumble from Carlos's stomach broke the silence, and Carlos thanked God that he had an excuse to avoid the question. "Let's eat, the food is getting cold and I'm starving!" Carlos said, maybe just a little too quickly.

Getting off Logan (who sighed at the loss of physical contact), Carlos rushed to the table and started loading up his plate with food, with Logan following to sit beside him. Soon, the rest of the BTR family trickled in and saw all the food, Carlos halfway done with his plate while Logan was serving himself some scrambled eggs.

"Hey guys, come grab some breakfast. I made enough for everyone… hopefully," Logan said as he watched Carlos load up his plate with seconds while half a muffin hung out his mouth.

"Logan! Carlos! Glad to see you two have finally made up and are back to your old selves again," Kendall said, giving Logan a knowing smile.

"Yeah, I was starting to get worried about you two," said Mama Knight, grabbing a cinnamon roll.

Katie chirped in as she and James grabbed some food too. "Come on, it's Carlos and Logan. They'll always make up, they're like yin and yang." With that, Carlos and Logan looked at each other and smiled.

"Plus, how could Carlos not forgive Logan – just look at that new helmet," James quipped as everyone took a seat at the table to enjoy their food.

After breakfast and some small talk on their plans for the rest of the day, the family went their separate ways to take care of their own business. It was a Saturday, so Mama Knight and Katie decided they would go to the mall to shop. Kendall went off to the ice rink to distract himself from Jo's absence, and James went to the pool to tan. Taking advantage of the nearly empty apartment, Carlos grabbed his 3DS to play video games while Logan decided to read a book on neurology. Sitting on the orange couch together, they somehow ended up back to back as they got lost in their activities.

Reaching a section on music and neuroscience, Logan suddenly remembered the piece of paper he took from Carlos's pocket earlier that morning.

"Hey, Carlos…" Logan began, wondering if he should really be bringing it up right now.

"Eh?" Carlos said, distracted by the zombies on the screen.

'Courage, Logan… if he wrote a song about a boy, then maybe you have a shot… if anything, teen love science will help you win him over!' So with that, Logan managed to utter, "… about that song in your pocket."

Carlos froze on the spot, nearly dropping the 3DS. "Well… it… I… uhh…" Desperate, Carlos threw out all the excuses he could think of. "It's… not exactly finished... Plus, we don't have any instruments here to play background music on!" Carlos smiled, sure he was in the clear and could avoid singing a song about Logan… to Logan.

"Maybe I could help? And we could go to Roque Records right now."

"Logan, it's a Saturday, the whole building is locked up. Trust me, I know from experience." Carlos thought back to the time he tried to break in when he was looking for his original helmet a few months ago.

"What were you doing – never mind. And I have a key." Logan pulled out the silver piece of metal from his pocket, then quickly stood up and grabbed Carlos by the arm. 'I _will_ hear that song…' At the very least, he could pretend that Carlos's song was about him. A boy could dream, right?

* * *

As Logan dragged Carlos to the studio, the shorter boy felt dread rising in his stomach. But he couldn't find any excuse to run off, and besides, Logan was surprisingly strong.

Entering the studio, Logan sat Carlos down at the piano before pulling up a chair nearby.

"Logie… do I really have to?" Carlos looked over at Logan, an embarrassed blush forming on his cheeks. Logan shot him back puppy dog eyes and pouted. 'Damnit, he pulls off that look better than me…' Unable to say no, Carlos took a deep breath, and then sang what he had written as he played a piano instrumental to it.

Logan stared at Carlos in awe. It was a beautiful yet heart-wrenching song. 'Who wouldn't notice someone as beautiful as you…' Logan thought as Carlos finished. "Wow. That was amazing!"

Carlos blushed again, glad yet a little embarrassed that Logan liked what he had written. "Thanks, Logie. I just need to figure out how to finish it."

"Can I try something?"

"Sure."

Logan got up and sat next to Carlos, signaled him to play the piano while he worked on some lyrics. When he had something written down, he started singing it to test it out.

_I'll love you, if you ain't got nobody to love  
And boy I'll adore you, if there's no one to adore  
And I'll show you, if there's no one to show  
Oh!  
And I'll know you, if you want somebody to know_

Carlos pretended that Logan was singing to _him_, like those were his actual feelings, instead of his best friend simply helping him with his song. His heart fluttered at the thought. They continued working on the song, Logan adding some vocal layering and harmonies.

Before they got to work on the bridge, Carlos turned to the other boy and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Logie," he said, giving the other boy a small smile. "That verse fits perfectly."

"Anytime! It came pretty easily to me."

"Yeah, you wrote that down in record time. Camille must be pretty special, that you can write something so quickly," Carlos stated, turning away from Logan to try to hide the sadness he felt.

"It's not about Camille," Logan replied absentmindedly. He hadn't even realized he had said that aloud, but Carlos went wide-eyed and stared at his best friend, wondering if he could let himself hope, even just a little.

"Then who did you write about?"

Logan stammered, then made an excuse about needing to do some chores and stood up. But before he could get away, Carlos grabbed him by the wrist. "Logan, I'm invoking the second amendment to the Best Friend Code. You can't drop something like and not tell me who it is!"

Logan sighed before answering "Just… someone who probably doesn't notice me either."

"Who?!" Carlos nearly yelled. 'Who wouldn't notice _you_? You're smart, funny, talented, caring, gorgeous… God, those dimples…' Carlos thought to himself.

'Should I just tell him?' Logan thought as he stared into Carlos's eyes, his heart rate increasing as fear and adrenaline coursed through his veins.

"Best Friend Code…" Carlos repeated, giving Logan no choice.

Logan sat back down at the piano bench, wracking his brain to figure out a way to confess to Carlos. He closed his eyes and sat straight forward, not wanting to risk meeting Carlos's gaze again, because he might chicken out at what he was about to do. After a moment, he took a breath, put his hands on the keys, and started playing the background to Carlos's song and sang the bridge he came up with.

_Please tell me you can hear me  
I'm expressing my love  
Won't stop 'til I get you  
I'm not letting up  
I'mma run into your heart  
Like a kid in a store  
Take every ounce of love  
And beg you for more  
And beg you for more_

Logan looked at Carlos as he sang the last line, hoping the other boy would understand what he was implying. But as much as Carlos _wanted_ to think that Logan was singing about him, he couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true. Was he dreaming? That was the only explanation – he had fallen asleep playing video games on the orange couch.

'Well, if this is just a dream, then real Logan can't hate me for doing this…' Carlos wrapped a hand around the back of Logan's neck and closed the space between them, pressing his lips against Logan's in a gentle kiss. But the next second, when he felt Logan press even closer and wrap his arms around him, he felt electricity shoot down his spine. 'This isn't a dream…!'

They kissed for what felt like an eternity, neither boy wanting to let the other go, taking in the moment that each of them had craved for so long. But out of breath, Logan finally pulled away. "Wow" was all he could say, eyes still closed and thinking about that kiss.

"Logie… you don't know how long I've been wanting to do that…"

"Then why stop now?" Logan replied, going in for a second kiss. It was soft, sweet, and slow, but everything both boys had been wanting for a while now.

Another eternity later, they decided to take things back to the comfort and privacy of 2J, where they cuddled on the orange couch. Carlos sat between Logan's legs and leaned back against the other boy while cartoons played on the TV in the background. He took one of Logan's hands and played with it, gently tracing the lines on his palm and finally settling on holding it to his chest.

"Thank you for everything, Logie… Today was the best day ever," Carlos said, voice trailing off sleepily.

"Anything for you, babe," Logan replied, equally sleepy. Lost in their own universe, the two boys drifted off to sleep, blissful smiles on both of their faces, for they finally had each other right where they wanted.


End file.
